<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 19:17:28 02-15-05</td></tr><td class="quote">Radio In from ROC: Expect aircraft Alpha-3-7-2 to land at 22:21 of 02-15-05.
Radio Out: 10-4.</td></tr></table>
After A-372 came in, I ought to be able to lean back and relax for the rest of the night. Not many planes came in after 11 to this small place, but they had to have someone, me in this case, on night shift anyways. You never knew what could come up when you hung around aircrafts, whether they were private or commercial. But with any hope, nothing major would come up tonight. That was the good thing about nightshift at a small airport like this. You got paid for doing almost nothing. Sure, it got boring after a while and sometimes you want something to happen. But the moment I think about what it would mean for a 10-34 or a 10-38 to occur makes me prefer boredom already. Sure, a 10-34 or a 10-38 would be fun to have once in a while, but not for the person in the plane. And if that plane was a commercial airline… Man, would I feel sorry for that pilot.
But there was a bad thing about working at a small airport. If something did occur, the trained people had to go out. Everyone working here had been qualified at some point or another to be a rescue team member, but few actually made sure that they still remembered everything they would need to for a rescue mission. Unfortunately—or maybe fortunately, I'm not sure—I was one of them. That meant whether it was my shift or not, I had to drop everything and go rescue if anything occurred. And if I did, someone on dayshift would have to take over the radio. You've got to feel sorry for whoever got called in. That would be three shifts in a row. At least when I'm called out for rescue they get someone else to tower so that I can recuperate. I guess that’s the one good thing about it. I'm always given time to sleep and refresh myself after a mission. People who normally tower dayshifts that suddenly switch to nightshifts aren't allowed to around here. If this were a big airport with many staff, that story would have been different.
<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 21:00 02-15-05</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Unknown aircraft entering radar range.
Radio In: This is Sean Gasiorek piloting Alpha-3-7-2 requesting to land at 22:21.
Radio Out: 10-4. Permission granted.</td></tr></table>
For the record, that's Pilot Sean Gasiorek radioing in to request landing for aircraft A-372 at roughly 10:21pm… Tonight. I'm quite sure Sean knew it was I who was in the tower. He probably informed me just so that we could throw together an impromptu welcome hardy just for him. It might be some other Sean Gasiorek, but he's the only Gasiorek I've ever known and Sean is a pilot we all know around here. We'll have to see when he comes in.
Other than that, it's just another hour and a half before I can leave this room. Technically, I'm not allowed to unless something big happens. But I haven't known an operator who hasn't bent that rule. Of course, there’s a better reason for me not to bend this rule than for others to, but I do so anyways. You can't expect a person to sit in the same chair all day—night, I mean—long, can you? Why don't you try? You won't even be able to get back on your feet if you do. And if something were to happen to aircraft A-372, I'd have to be able to get out of my chair and react. Quickly.
<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 21:00:39 02-15-05</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Radio In: 10-34! This is Alpha-3-7-2 with 3 people on board. Repeat: 10-34!
Radio Out: 10-4.
Radar Reading: Aircraft A-372 at 34° 16'44" N 77° 95'35" W.</td></tr></table>
34° 16'44" N 77° 95'35" W. That's not far from here, but far enough out… and over the water. What'd Sean get him into this time? He wasn't so reckless last time I saw him, but I guess things change. Or was that even Sean? Now that I think about it for a second, that didn't sound like Sean.
<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 21:00:54 02-15-05</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Radio Out: QRZ.
Radio In: Rafael Solari. We're going down.
Radio Out: Sending dispatch.</td></tr></table>
Rafael. After all those years of hearing Sean speak about the Great Rafael Solari, I might finally get to meet him. Maybe. Hopefully? What happened to Sean? Whatever happened, I had to get off my bottom now. But as I said before, it's hard sitting around for God-only-knows how long and getting up in the next second. Nonetheless, I had to do it. And I did it.
<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 21:00:59 02-15-05</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Staff Radio: Doreen, ready Bellhop 2. Cy and David to Bellhop 2. Emergency call from Alpha-3-7-2 at 34 degrees 16 minutes 44 seconds N. 77 degrees 95 minutes 35 seconds W. Timon to tower.
Radar Reading: Connection with A-372 failing.</td></tr></table>
Exactly what I feared. The fact that I thought someone I knew was there made it all the worse. In fact, I think all of us staffing right now knew Sean Gasiorek and heard about at least heard about the great Solari. I’d have to tell them later. Once they were on the helicopter.
And as to Cy and David, they're one half of the team. The only person that can qualify for the team that is on dayshift is Yatin. And seeing this we were trying to get 3 people back, 4 people going out wouldn’t make sense. Yatin knew Sean too. And if we gave him a buzz, he would have taken a helicopter out before you could tell him not to. No use having two helicopters where one would do. Plus, Yatin would get Bellhop 1. Which is faster than Bellhop 2, but doesn't have the same amount of room. Talking about the Bellhop, someone got cheesy and named our Bell 407 model Bellhop 1 and our Bell 412 SP model Bellhop 2. I don't recall even seeing bells around here.
<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 21:07:43 02-15-05</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Radio to Bellhop 2: Go ahead when you're ready. The most you’ll hit is an insect.
Radio from Bellhop 2: Thanks, man, but we’re gone.
Bellhop 2 taking off. Timon at tower.</td></tr></table>
What can you say? We've been at it together for a few years now. We get lazy and when together, we rarely use the 10s and the Qs and such. Sure. It takes more time to get across, but from the radio from our helicopter to the tower you might have already figured that Cy had gotten the helicopter into the air before Timon had finished his little piece. Doreen wasn't actually supposed to be on duty tonight. But I swear she's got a sixth sense. She somehow knew we'd need that extra hand to get off a second earlier.
Since I was at the tower and was the one who had to radio everyone, I was naturally the last person to the helicopter. Cy gave me a dirty look when I had finally gotten into the craft. He looked as though he would have smashed the tower just to get to me if I had taken a minute more. Knowing Cy, he probably would have. And if he didn't, David might of.
"All right," I said as I got myself into the seat, "We’re looking at a plane that went down in the water with 3 people."
"Over water," David grunted, "Higher chance of drowning." Leave it up to David to say that kind of thing.
"But less chance of fire." And leave it up to Cy to say something a bit more optimistic. Though chances were that both options had already been thought up before the two had brought it up. Not sure which one to prefer, though. Normally it was easier to find the location over land, but you never know. That was during the day. It was darktime now.
David grunted in return. "Have a clue as to who’s on it?"
I grimaced. He had to ask that, didn't he. "Yes. It's Sean and his good friend Rafael. No idea as to who the other are, though." I watched as both Cy and David winced.
"Could have done without knowing," Cy replied bitterly. David muttered something that sounded like he agreed with Cy. I can't blame them. I would have rather gone without knowing as well. "Just got to hope for the best, now." Of course, David probably was thinking of the worst situation that could happen right about now while I was trying not to think about it at all. No one talks as Cy sets a course for our destination.
<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 21:13:02 02-15-05</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Radio from tower to Bellhop 2: We've got news from Alpha-3-7-2, but there'll be no more. They've abandoned the craft and gone for the boats. No matter what happens, Rafael says you're to get Zega back here. Sean's currently knocked out. And how come no one ever told me that it was Sean and Rafael out there?
Radio from Bellhop 2 to tower: You would have tried to make your way on board, and so would Doreen, which would have slowed us down. Plus, We don't have that much space and you haven't done anything for a long time.
Radio from tower to Bellhop 2: Thanks for the trust, man.
Radio from Bellhop 2 to tower: You simply haven't.</td></tr></table>
What can I say? It's Timon. He would have made his way on board if he had known it was Sean coming in. That's partly why I hadn't mentioned either Sean or Rafael when radioing everyone around. And Timon wouldn't know it was Sean or Rafael until he had either 1) read the logs or 2) made contact with A-372. Of course, the first thing he would have done before read the logs or make contact was "clear us for takeoff," which meant that he wouldn't read the logs beforehand. That in turn meant that he wouldn't catch us before we left. Poor Timon. He's probably tried to pull all his hair out. It's amusing watching him do so. But when he does do so, he's transferring mental pain to physical pain. And the sound of him doing so isn't pleasant.
<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 21:29:02 02-15-05</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Radio from Bellhop 2 to tower: We're over the water.</td></tr></table>
There hasn't been much talking between us three now that we all know it is Sean and Rafael. The most anyone's said is "Any food on this thing?" and the reply to that was a simple "Nothing you can have." We've got nothing to chew on other than thoughts that are growing darker and darker by the moment. Sean. Rafael. Sean had said he'd someday bring this great Rafael over some day. We all doubted that day would come seeing that Sean's been coming to this place less and less each year. But now that chance seems all too great and all too little. It's torture.
<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 21:37:02 02-15-05</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Radio from Bellhop 2 to tower: Bellhop 2 over 34° 16'44" N 77° 95'35" W.
Radio from tower to Bellhop 2: See anything?</td></tr></table>
"Hey. I see something out in the distance," Cy says. David and I strain to see.
<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 21:37:05 02-15-05</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Radio from Bellhop 2 to tower: Now I do.</td></tr></table>
"Get that searchlight on," David commands me, but I already was on the move. I shift over and turn the thing on and shine it in the direction Cy is looking.
"They've certainly drifted from where the plane landed," I said quite needlessly now that everyone can see the thing Cy saw first. Cy only responded in maneuvering the helicopter over. As we got closer, it was easy to see that two people were standing up and waving their arms like crazy. It hurts us all to know who the third one who isn't waving is and why.
"Yah," David muttered in agreement. He was off his chair and making way for the rescue hoist. He had already started lowering it so that when we did get to the spot, they only had to wait a few seconds more before they could hop in. It's too bad that Sean was the one knocked out. He would have been able to guide them as to what to do. He's been our "dummy" for some practices. But because Sean was out, David just kept on yelling instructions over the noise to them. I locked the light on them before moving to get blankets and other things that they might need. It looked like Rafael and Zega were able bodied enough. Maybe not, but to some extent they were. It must have hurt to look up, but at least they could see what they were doing. Once they had secured their places, David and I hulled up the 3-person load while Cy tried not to sway them around too much. He was quite eager to get off his seat and come around to see what was going on in the back. And he knew the only chance he'd get to get off his seat would be to land back at our airport.
<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 21:46:29 02-15-05</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Bellhop 2 has picked up 3 people.
Radio from Bellhop 2 to tower: We've got them, Timon.
Radio from tower to Bellhop 2: How are they?
Radio from Bellhop 2 to tower: Cold. We’ll be in shortly.</td></tr></table>
They didn't seem out of shape. They had all managed to get off the plane before it actually hit the water. Rafael truly is great. He managed to get Sean from the cockpit to the rescue boat after having contacted us a last time as the plane was going down. At least they had another person, Zega, was there to get the boat out and such while he struggled to get Sean out.
We threw the blankets I had gotten out over them the minute they managed to get into the helicopter. They, the ones not out, were shivering like mad. They accepted the blankets quite readily and allowed us to heap them on them. We stuck a mountain on Sean too, but he didn’t notice. We've told them to strip themselves and we've given them extra clothes. But they're shivering so mad that all they can think of is to hold the blankets to them so that they don't mistakenly fall off.
<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 21:58:29 02-15-05</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Radio from Bellhop 2 to tower: Sean's up and shivering madder than the other two, but he's got the most on top of him.
Radio from Bellhop 2 to tower: You'll see them in roughly 20 minutes.</td></tr></table>
Cy is, of course, not allowing our passengers to hear the conversation between him and Timon. He's using the headset now and it's probably just as well. His voice can hardly be heard over the noise of the helicopter and all I hear from him is muttering and occasionally pausing to hear what Timon has to say. I'll just read the logs later and see what's going on. There's probably nothing much. And knowing Timon, he's probably cleared out anything bad that he's said. Then again, I probably would have done the same thing.
<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 22:04:34 02-15-05</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Radio from Bellhop 2 to tower: We've got them talking. But all of them seem to be coughing and sneezing more than any words come out.
Radio from tower to Bellhop 2: What's the chance of…?
Radio from Bellhop 2 to tower: They'll get what treatment we can give them and they'll get back to the airport. But they're all shivering like mad under their respectful mountains.</td></tr></table>
We've given them all we can in the means of medical attention. Sean's got a few bruises from Rafael's rough handling. But from what we hear coming from their mouths, Sean's thankful for anything for having gotten off that plane. Zega apparently had a nighttime dunking in the ocean. So now that Sean's awake, we've transferred part of his mountain over to her. We've basically gotten out all our blankets, which means someone will have to wash and fold them again. That'll probably be Yatin. God only knows how much he loves to fold and wash those blankets. Not. He's done it every time Cy, David and I go off for some reason or another. That's probably partly the reason why he wants to go on some mission some time or another. Then he'd get to sleep and someone else would be doing the laundry.
<table align="center" width="90%"><tr><td class="genmed">Logged at 22:15:25 02-15-05</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Radio from Bellhop 2 to tower: Requesting to land.
Radio from tower to Bellhop 2: Turn off the radio and land already.
Radio from Bellhop 2 to tower: Then you've got a welcome crew down there, haven't you?
Radio from tower to Bellhop 2: Shut up and land.</td></tr></table>
Cy landed, as always, expertly. Doreen and Timon were there to greet us. Timon probably flew down to greet us having heard something from Cy and Doreen probably, like always instinctively knew. We were so glad that all three of them were alive. And having a bit more time to think, Zega seemed a bit familiar. Whether it was name or face, I couldn't tell. So I spent some more time with Zega than the others were, trying to figure out from where I knew her while Cy, David and Doreen were bouncing all over the place with Sean and Rafael by their side. Timon had gone back to the tower after David had shouted at him for a few minutes. We pulled out some fold away beds that we had around here and they were filled by the time 11 o'clock pm came. Probably due to the fact they were getting somewhat sick and none of us—the nightshift crew—would allow them to stay up any longer. They had to get their sleep.
So I guess it was fortunate that I was one of the members. I was one of the first to know that all three would be all right. But gods was it torture until we had all three of them in the helicopter. If just one thing went wrong it would have been us three looked down upon rather than celebrated as tonight's heroes.
Iced - Silver [dot] Net ... now go. And maybe someday I'll actually get up something that resembles a pretty sig.
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